Ladder clamp



April 8, 1941i. H 1 TROCHE 2.237.853

LADDER CLAMF Filed Nov. 3. 193B 2 Sheets--SheekI 14 E O /3' Z0 .9o 9169/ 40 /Z *i H93 fr l Y /f' j INVENTOR ATTORNEY 5.

April 8, 1941- H. J. TROCHE 2.237.853

LADDER CLAMP Filed Nov. 3, 1938 2 Sheets-Shee'rl 2 INVENTOR. BY MMWwf/fg,

@my wm View ATTORNEYIS oriented prr 1941 UNITED STATE S PATENT OFFICELADDER. CLAMP Herman J. Troche, Cleveland, h10, assgnor to AmericanCoach da Body Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation o! OhioApplication November 3, 1938, Serial No. 238,564

4 Claims.

motion. will lock a plurality oi ladders in position and by reversemotion will release them i'or lmmediate use.f The device has particularapplication in trucks whichare used for telephone work or tor anyactivity that requires ladders as part oi the service equipment.

a desirable locationior mounting ladders in equipment of this nature ison the top of the vehicle, where it does not obstruct a workman lnobtaining access to the tool compartment oi the vehicle or interferewith the vision of the driver. Ilihe dimculty in loading ladders at thetop oi the vehicle is the fact that they are apt to move as e. result ofthe vibration of the vehicle, and as a result oi sudden starting orstopping oi lthe same. The present invention, however, overcomes all ofthese difficulties. in a simple and expeditious manner.

lteierring now to .the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side view oi a vehiclehaving ladders mounted thereon ond having my clamping device attachedthereto; the. d :is o. plan oi ladderV supporting mechanism shown inli'ig. l; Fig. 3 is an end view oi the vehicle; big. i is a iragmentaryplan on a larger scale that is used ior liig. 2 and shows the vehicle ingreater detail with a portion in section Fig. 5 is a transverse sectiontaken on the iine t--i in Fig. d.

'the vehicle with which the present invention is illustrated is shown oshaving a body il) with a drvers cab il. Ladders are adapted to becarried above the body and cabin supporting mechanism mounted on 'thebody. For this pulpose l have illustrated lengths of pipe or rods i? andit oi inverteti iii-shape, mounted in brackets i4 and it, which areattached to the sides oi the body.

lThe entenslon ladder support may comprise a pair oi supporting deswhich rest upon the intermediate portions or the rods i2 and i3. Thesetreme members may be adiustably positioned upon their supports by clampsit and di, each which has a portion which is aixed to one oi the tramemembers and another portion that entends around the rod and is rigidlycramped thereto. 'lihe guides are preferably Z- shaped in cross-sectionand are smooth on their iaces, enabling a ready placement oi the ladderby a sliding action.

'The frame members 20 have sulicent length 'to receive and hold anextension ladder, indicated at L, L' in Figs. l and 5, .the outersection L of which fits snugly within the frame members 20 while theinner section L' rests on the outer section.

vl'he bars 20, which are adjustably supported by 'the brackets 24 and25, are transversely connected in an adjustable manner, so that they mayreceive-the ladder L with the desired snugness. This adjustableconnection. illustrated in Fig. 5, comprises overlapping extensions ofi.- shaped bars 2i bolted to their respective frame members 2li andsecured together by bolts 28, which pass through slots in one oi thebars.

This invention is adapted for clamping ladders other than extensionladders, so l have illustrated a step-ladder 8, beneath the extensionladder and adapted to be positioned and clamped within a trame that issuspended from the extensionladder frame.

inthe preferred arrangement the frame which carries the step-ladder,comprises longitudinally extending supporting guides di) in the iorm ofangle bars that are suspended from the members till by brackets di andd2, respectively. The frame members di) are ltransversely braced bycrossmembers t5, which may be continuations of the brackets il and 42,as illustrated. The step-ladder supporting irame is wider at the rearthan at the iront, as illustrated in Fig. 2, to conform to the usualshape or such ladders.

Upper angle bars d6 paralleling the members dll are provided to guidethe iorward end ci the step-ladderu as the ladder is slanted up and slid:forwardly and to prevent interference with or injury to the guides andmechanism above. The members t6 also serve to increase the rigidity ofthe frame.

it will be seen that the construction above described provides iorconveniently supporting the step-ladder above the body and et the rearof the cab, and the extension ladder above the stepladder, andoverhanging the top oi the cab. as illustrated in Fig. l.

it. ieature oi' my invention is the clamping mechanism which eliectivelylocks the ladders in these portions. l" will first describe themechanism for clamping the extension ladder, which is best illustratedin Figs. 4 and 5.

lmivotally mounted on the vertical legs of the bars il are uprightclamping levers t0. each of which is shown as having inward flanges lwhich overlap U-shaped brackets 29 on the frame bars, the flanges beingpivoted to the brackets by pins or rods 52. 'Ihe bars 50 are shown ascurving inwardly to extend across the top of the ladder extension L' andadjacent their free ends carry on their undersides rubber blocks 54adapted to bear against the top edges of the side rails of the ladderL'. Each clamping bar 50 is'connected at 55 and 56, below the pivot 52,with a spreading device adapted to force the lower ends of theseclamping levers outwardly and thus bring the blocks 54 down tightly onthe ladder rails.

'I'he spreading device for the clamping arms 50 comprises a transversebar 60, pivoted at 6l to a clip 62 pivoted at 56 tothe clamping bar. Onthe other side, a link 64 is pivoted at 65 to a clip 66, which ispivoted at 55 tothe clamping bar. The link 64 has a threaded extension61, on which is mounted an adjustable internal threaded clevis 68pivoted to an ear 69 on the lever 60. The portion of the lever 60between its pivot and the clevis 68 forms one member of a toggle, theother member being a link 64 and the clevis 68. The various pivots andclips just mentioned form, in effect, universal joints at each end ofthe toggle. When this toggle is straightened by action of the lever 6U,the ladders are clamped. 'Ihe lever 60 slides in and is' supported by abracket 59 extending from the bars 2i and may be provided with asuitable handle 'l0 to enable its ready movement by the operator.

To clamp the step-ladder, I provide a bar 80 sli-dably mountedtransversely of the step-ladder frame above that frame, this bar havinga downwardly curved portion 8| carrying at its end a rubber block 82adapted to abut the side face of the step-ladder rail. The bar 80 isadjustably clamped by bolts 84 passing through slots to an extensionmember 85, which is pivoted to the pivot 56 0f the adjustable clampingbar 50, to which the lever 60 is pivotally attached. The result is thatwhen the lever 60 is operated to straighten the toggle, thereby clampingthe extension ladder, the same movement, by swinging the pivot 56outwardly, throws the block 82 against the side of the step-ladder.

The clamping members for both the extension ladder and the step-ladderare adjusted so that they act simultaneously, and hence a singlemovement of the lever 60 by its handle 'l0 clamps all of the ladders inplace.

The suspended support for the step-ladder may also, if desired, carrycompartments for carrying suitable tools. This is illustrated in Figs. 3and 5,

where the suspending brackets 4l and 42 on one side, carry a sheet metalopen-ended box having compartments and 9|, for tree trimmers and groundrods, respectily, or other purposes if desired.

I claim:

1. The combination of a ladder support, a pair of clamping leversintermediately pivoted to the support and having upper portions adaptedto act downwardly on a ladder resting on the support, an operating leverconnected to the lower portion of one of said clamping levers, and atoggle link connecting the lower portion of the other clamping lever tosaid operating lever.

2. The combination of a plurality of superimposed spaced laddersupports, a pair of clamping levers intermediately pivoted to the uppersupport and having the upper portion thereof adapted to bear against aladder resting on the upper support, a third clamping member disposedbetween the supports and having one end portion thereof adapted to bearagainst a ladder on the lower support, an operating lever disposedbctween the supports and connected to one of thc clamping levers for theupper ladder and also connected to the clamping member for the lowerladder, and means connecting the operating lever 4to the other clampinglever for the upper ladder whereby movement of the operating lever inone direction actuates all of the clamping members and levers to holdthe ladders on their respective supports.

3. The combination of a ladder support, a pair of clamping leversintermediately pivoted to the support and having the upper portion ofeach clamping lever adapted to bear against a ladder resting on thesupport, a swingable operating lever pivotally connected to the lowerportion of one of said clamping levers, and a link pivotally connectedto the operating lever at an intermediate portion thereon and alsopivotally connected to the other clamping lever.

4. The combination of a ladder supporting structure, a pair of clampinglevers intermediately pivoted to said structure and each having one endthereof adapted t0 bear against a ladder resting on the support, therebeing one lever on each side of the ladder, a swingable operating leverhaving at least a portion thereof positioned at one side of the ladder,a link pivotally connected to the lever and to the lower end portion ofone of the clamping levers, and means including a second link foroperating the other clamping lever whenever the rst is actuated.

HERMAN J TROCHE.

